The Titfield Thunderbolt
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2018) |
The Titfield Thunderbolt | |
---|---|
T.E.B. Clarke | |
Produced by | Michael Truman |
Starring | Stanley Holloway George Relph Naunton Wayne John Gregson Hugh Griffith Gabrielle Brune Sid James |
Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
Edited by | Seth Holt |
Music by | Georges Auric |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production companies | Ealing Studios Michael Balcon Productions |
Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) Universal-International (US) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 84 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British
Michael Truman was the producer.[5] The film was produced by Ealing Studios and was the first of its comedies shot in Technicolor.
There was considerable inspiration from the book Railway Adventure by established railway book author L. T. C. Rolt, published in 1953.[6] Rolt had acted as honorary manager for the volunteer enthusiasts running the Talyllyn Railway for the two years 1951–52. According to British rail enthusiast and film historian John Huntley's book Railways in the Cinema (published by Ian Allan in 1969), T.E.B. Clarke actually visited the Talyllyn Railway in 1951 and spent two days learning about the tribulations faced by its volunteers. A number of scenes in the film, such as the emergency resupply of water to the locomotive by buckets from an adjacent stream and passengers being asked to assist in pushing the carriages, were taken from incidents on the Talyllyn Railway recounted in Railway Adventure.
Plot
The residents of the village of Titfield are shocked to learn that their railway branch line to the town of Mallingford is to be closed. Sam Weech, the local vicar and a railway enthusiast, and Gordon Chesterford, the village squire, decide to take over the line by setting up a company through a Light Railway Order. On securing financial backing from Walter Valentine, a wealthy man with a fondness for daily drinking, the men learn that the Ministry of Transport will allow them a month’s trial period, after which they must pass an inspection to make the Order permanent. Weech is helped by Chesterford and retired track layer Dan Taylor to run the train and volunteers from the village to operate the station.
Bus operators Alec Pearce and Vernon Crump, who bitterly oppose the idea and wish to set up a bus line between Titfield and Mallingford, attempt to sabotage the plans. Aided by Harry Hawkins, a
Valentine visits Taylor, who suggests that they borrow a locomotive from Mallingford's rail yards. Despite being both drunk, they manage to acquire one, but accidentally crash it after they're spotted taking it. Both men are promptly arrested by the police as a result. Meanwhile, Weech is inspired by a picture of the line's first locomotive, the Thunderbolt, which is now housed in the Mallingford Town Hall museum. Upon securing Blakeworth's release, he helps them to acquire the locomotive for the branch line. To complete their new train, the villagers use Taylor's home, an old railway carriage body, hastily strapped to a flat wagon. In the morning, Pearce and Crump drive to the village to prepare to take passengers, but are shocked to see the train waiting at the station. Distracted from his driving, Pearce crashes the bus into the police van transporting Valentine and Taylor, and when Crump lets slip that they have been involved in sabotaging the line they are promptly arrested.
With Taylor arrested, Weech takes help from Ollie Matthews, a fellow railway devotee and the Bishop of Wilchester, in running the Thunderbolt for the inspection run. The train departs Titfield late because the police demand transport to Mallingford for them and the arrested men. Despite a mishap with the coupling, the villagers help the train complete its run to Mallingford. Upon arriving, Weech learns that the line passed every requirement for the Light Railway Order, but barely. In fact, had they been any faster, their application would have been rejected.
Cast
- Stanley Holloway as Walter Valentine
- George Relph as Vicar Sam Weech
- Naunton Wayne as George Blakeworth
- John Gregson as Squire Gordon Chesterford
- Godfrey Tearle as Ollie Matthews, the Bishop of Welchester
- Hugh Griffith as Dan Taylor
- Gabrielle Brune as Joan Hampton
- Sid James as Harry Hawkins
- Reginald Beckwith as Coggett
- Edie Martin as Emily
- Michael Trubshawe as Ruddock
- Jack MacGowran as Vernon Crump
- Ewan Roberts as Alec Pearce
- Herbert C. Walton as Seth
- John Rudling as Clegg
- Nancy O'Neil as Mrs Blakeworth
- Campbell Singer as Police Sergeant
- Frank Atkinson as Station Sergeant
- Wensley Pithey as Policeman
Driver Ted Burbidge, fireman Frank Green and guard Harold Alford were not actors but British Railways employees from the Westbury depot, located on the former-Great Western Railway main line from London to Bristol. Originally they were provided only to operate the locomotives employed in the film on location but, when Charles Crichton talked to them and realised they "looked and sounded the part", they were given speaking roles and duly credited.
When interviewed for an article in Railway World, T. E. B. Clarke revealed that he based Mr. Valentine on an elderly gentleman that he remembered in the hotel bar while on a holiday.[7]
Production
As related in an article focused on the production published in the March 1953 edition of
Shooting was largely carried out near
The scene where a replacement locomotive is 'stolen' used a wooden mock-up 'locomotive' mounted on a lorry chassis: the rubber tyres can (just) be spotted between the locomotive's driving wheels.[10] The scene was jointly filmed in the Oxfordshire market town of Woodstock and in Richmond Park, London, but the lead-in scene with the turntable was filmed at Oxford locomotive depot with a real engine. The earlier scene of GWR 1400 Class No. 1401 crashing and getting wrecked as it heads down an embankment used realistic scale models filmed on a set at Ealing Studios.
The Thunderbolt itself was represented by an actual antique museum resident, the
Release
The film had its gala premiere at
Critical reception
Ealing Studios head
Decades later it is remembered that though the film was "One of the less popular Ealing Comedies at the time, it is now regarded as more of a classic".[15] Similarly, Ivan Butler in his Cinema in Britain called it "A minor Ealing, perhaps even a little tired towards the evening of their long comedy day, but a very pleasant sunset for all that."[16] George Perry, in his history of the studios, compared it to Whisky Galore and Passport to Pimlico as sharing "the theme of the small group pitted against and universally triumphing over the superior odds of a more powerful opponent." But, quoting a location report by Hugh Samson of Picturegoer, he suggests there was a lack of sympathy for the subject: "Odd point about this railway location: not a single railway enthusiast to be found in the whole crew. T.E.B.'Tibby' Clarke, writer of the script, loathes trains. Producer Michael Truman can't get out of them fast enough. And director Crichton - well, you wouldn't find him taking engine numbers at Paddington Station."[17] Again, Charles Barr concurred that "there is no grasp of a living community, or of the relevance of the train to people's daily needs."[18]
Home media
The Titfield Thunderbolt is available on Blu-ray disc with numerous disc extras from Film Movement's reissue label Film Movement Classics.
Stage adaptation
Performances of Philip Goulding's adaptation of the story for theatre began in 1997 and have continued regularly since, largely in a series of local productions. A first national tour took place in 2005, and the script was published in 2008 as The Titfield Thunderbolt: A Play (Samuel French Ltd).[19]
See also
- Railway with a Heart of Gold - a short documentary film described as "the reality behind The Titfield Thunderbolt."
References
- ^ a b "The Titfield Thunderbolt". Art & Hue. 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb, retrieved 24 April 2020
- ^ The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb, retrieved 24 April 2020
- ^ Castens, Simon (February 2011). "The Titfield Thunderbolt and the Camerton Branch" (PDF). Address to Wells Railway Fraternity.
- ^ The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb, retrieved 24 April 2020
- ^ a b Roberts 2018, p. 58.
- ISBN 0711020590.
- ^ Southern Railway Email Group https://sremg.org.uk/RlyMag/TTT.pdf, retrieved 19 December 2021
- ^ Roberts 2018, p. 60.
- ^ a b Roberts 2018, p. 61.
- ^ Fry Art Gallery
- ISBN 0711020590.
- ^ L, G (April 1953). "Titfield Thunderbolt, The". Monthly Film Bulletin. 231/20: 51.
- ^ "The Titfield Thunderbolt". Variety. 1 January 1953. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023.
- ^ William Thomas, Empire, 01 01 2000
- ISBN 049801133X.
- OCLC 8409427.
- OCLC 3249510.
- ^ Philip Goulding com.
Sources
- Roberts, Steve (28 March 2018). "Thunderbolt enlightening". ISSN 0953-4563.
Further reading
- Fosker, Oliver (1 November 2008). The Titfield Thunderbolt ~ Now & Then. Up Main Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9561041-0-6.
- Castens, Simon (22 July 2002). On the Trail of The Titfield Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt Books. ISBN 978-0-9538771-0-2.
- Huntley, John (1969). Railways in the Cinema. ISBN 978-0-7110-0115-2.
- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (June 1996). Frome to Bristol including the Camerton Branch and the "Titfield Thunderbolt". Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-873793-77-0.
External links
- The Titfield Thunderbolt at IMDb
- http://www.lionlocomotive.org.uk/ Lion, an interesting 'Old Locomotive', probably best known as taking a starring part in the film Titfield Thunderbolt